


Tea Talk

by sparklin13



Series: Shamchat Archives [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Asgard, Feelings, Gen, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Loki (Marvel) Feels, References to Norse Religion & Lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-06-01 00:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15130838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklin13/pseuds/sparklin13
Summary: Loki and Bruce have a bit of a heart to heart.





	Tea Talk

**Author's Note:**

> From Shamchat. Edited for clarity. Please keep in mind that this is a roleplay, and thus does not have much setting. It also ends abruptly. Thanks to the person who played Bruce, wherever you are.

"Aren't any hard feelings over the big guy ragdolling you two years ago, right?"  
"Not really. I quite deserved it. Besides, it was enough to reset the control of the scepter."  
"Ah, glad to hear that. You've been like, adjusting alright to Avenger's tower?"  
"Yes. It is... different, but not entirely unpleasant. I am not used to being in the company of so many."  
"Wasn't like that growing up on Asgard?"  
"I mostly kept to myself. Thor and his friends would often drag me out on wild adventures, but I personally preferred the library."  
"I'm kinda like that too."  
"I suppose we are quite similar, with our inner monsters and all."  
Bruce’s forehead wrinkled. "Don't suppose you get big and green too?"  
"It appears Thor has kept his big mouth shut for once. I am adopted, or rather, stolen. I am the runt child of the frost giant king Laufey. In Asgard, we grew up learning to loathe frost giants. They were the monsters we feared as children. After a battle in Jotunheim, home of the frost giants, I confronted Odin about why my skin had turned blue instead of getting frostbite. He explained my true heritage and then went into the Odinsleep. With Thor banished at the time and Odin asleep, I took the throne. Thor may have told you the rest. This is my true form." Loki's skin shimmered as his eyes became bloodred, skin darkening to blue, and intricate lines raising out of his skin. "See? Monster."  
Bruce’s eyebrows lifted a little, expression softening. "Is it... hard maintaining a different form all the time?"  
"No. It is Odin's enchantment, fueled by my own magic. It is actually harder to remain this way, for I have known my other form for all my life, but I am new to this one."  
"With your dad- or, uh, Odin dead, is it any easier? Would you mind having that form all the time?"  
Loki shifts back. "His enchantment is still strong since it is tied to my own magic. While it is easier to change forms now, I still do not like it. I know Thor means well but he still flinches if he sees me in this form. Old habit, I guess."  
"That... sucks. Have you ever gone back to the frost giants? Like, visited your birth father, the Laufey guy?"  
"I killed him to try and impress Odin and nearly committed genocide to prove I was better than Thor."  
"Were the frost giants as bad as Asgardians make them out to be?"  
"I... don't know. I've only encountered Laufey and some of his warriors. They were quite fierce and bloodthirsty."  
"I mean, the Asgardians have a genocide-y, bloodthirsty past too."  
"I didn't know about that until recently."  
"Well, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Thor talked about that to me a lot. That and Odin."  
"He must trust you."  
"Yeah, yeah. We've known each other a while and we've had to spend a lot of time together on Sakaar."  
"Sakaar is a very interesting place. I do wonder if Thor ever figured out that I was sleeping with the Grandmaster..."  
Bruce choked on his own spit. "You were what?"  
"How else was I going to take over so quickly?"  
Bruce cleared his throat. "Guess that isn't... that surprising. You did know where that, uh, ship was I do have some vague memories from Hulk of you guys being sorta touchy. But, I don't think that Thor would've pieced that together without commenting on it."  
"Poor, naïve Thor. Perhaps I should tell him to see how mad he gets. What do you think he'll do?"  
"Probably lecture you or something? I mean, I would if I knew you were off frolicing around with him when you could've been saving me."  
"I needed to control the planet first. I couldn't properly do that with the Grandmaster still there."  
"So what? You were trying to kill him?"  
"Yes. I wasn't in love with him or anything. It was all a lie. Once I found Thor, I asked if he would want to rule with me. He declined."  
"Aw, you got rejected?"  
Loki just glared.  
Bruce pursed his lips. "I can't really blame him, I mean, you were only there for what? Three weeks?"  
"He was insistent on saving Asgard. I saw no more future for us there, but I was convinced that I could build us a future on Sakaar."  
"On... slaves."  
"Or as En Dwi would say, the 'prisoners with jobs'." Loki chuckled. "I planned to free them in exchange for their absolute loyalty."  
"What would happen to that The Contest of Champions thing then?"  
"It would still exist, but the fight would not be to the death. We had similar things in Asgard."  
Bruce nodded, scratching at the back of his head. "Uh. If time moved differently there and all, how long would two years be? Roughly?"  
"May I use my magic on you? The time passing is different for everyone."  
"Sure. I mean, I'm still probably gonna say I'm 49 though, full disclosure."  
Loki placed his hands on Bruce's head. They glow faintly green as he closes his eyes. He pulls them away after a minute. "Interesting. The Hulk has aged, but you have not. He is a separate part of you, and appears to have his own magical signature. I could be mistaken though, as radiation and magic have similar frequencies. It is also more difficult to tell with living beings."  
"Huh. Guess that's kinda relieving. How old are you, by the way?"  
"Approximately 1050. Give or take a century."  
Bruce gave a small nod. "You're younger than Thor, right?"  
"Yes. He is around 1500, if I remember correctly."  
"Frost giants live about as long as Asgardians?"  
"Yes."  
Bruce’s hands fidgeted a little and he slipped them into his pockets. "Has the rest of the team been talking to you and stuff?"  
"I've worked with Stark a bit. He is very curious about my magic. Other than that, most everyone else keeps their distance. With the exception of you and Thor of course." Loki conjures a tea set. "Tea?"  
"Yeah, Tony's never been very shy." He hesitantly took a cup. "I think the rest of them are just worried you're plotting something new or are just kinda.... unnerved by you."  
"I understand." Loki took a sip of his tea and sighed. "This is my mother's recipe. It reminds me of reading in the library."  
Bruce smelled it and drank some. "Think this is about the first tea I've had in two years?"  
"Do you like it?"  
"Yeah, yeah. It's good. All tea kinda tastes the same to me though."  
"Perhaps this will be slightly different. It contains a calming herb. It always helped whenever I was stressed about something. I figured you might need it sometimes."  
Bruce chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right."  
"How are your reconnections going? I know Stark is happy to have 'his science bro' back, as he says. What about everyone else?"  
"It's been kinda slow since there's so much to do and stuff. Cap's been talking with me a lot more than he used to, I guess. Can always make small talk with Barton about his kids or whatever."  
"And with the Widow? I understand that you two were fond of each other before Sakaar?"  
"...we haven't talked a whole lot yet."  
"If I were closer to her I would offer to help you, but she is always distant towards me. It reminds me of myself, a bit."  
Bruce nodded, finishing the rest of the tea. "I just wanna wait to talk with her."  
"Why?"  
"It's uncomfortable. We left on a weird note and then years have gone by for her."  
"And yet you are still wasting time."  
"Hey, I feel like your right to criticize my love life is gone."  
"And why would that be? I have centuries more experience than you." Loki raised an eyebrow.  
"The Grandmaster."  
"It was just a trick. A means to power. I did not love him. My experience with him should not cripple your judgement of my love advice."  
"Didn't you also get with a horse once?"  
"That is just a stupid Midgard myth told by some of Thor's old childhood friends. I was close friends with my father's steed Sleipnir, but I did not give birth to him."  
"Fine. Still definitely gonna put off talking to her, but I'll hear you out."  
"The more you put it off, the more your anxiety will fester, likely hers as well. Both of you will create misconceptions about each other and make excuses not to talk. As hard as it may be, it is best to approach her soon and ask to talk about your relationship. If she does not want to speak about it, ask her to come to you when she is ready."  
Bruce sighed, smiling a little. "You sound like Thor."  
Loki smiled. "That is probably because I advised him throughout our childhood. He said I sounded like Mother."  
"You were close with your mom?"  
"Very. However, my last words to her were telling her that she was not my mother because I was still angry at Odin. Later, I found out that my directions to the Dark Elves that invaded Asgard led to her death. Even though I know logically that it was not my fault, my heart still weeps with blame." Loki looked down and appeared to be holding back some tears.  
Bruce cautiously pat his soldier, expression softening. "My last words to my dad wasn't that great either. It's still hard realizing and accepting stuff like that. But she probably knew you didn't mean it and that you didn't mean to do anything to lead to her dying."  
"I know. She was always very perceptive. I just wish I could have attended her funeral, but they would not let me out of the dungeons. I could hear some of it from my cell though."  
"That's rough, I'm sorry."  
"Thank you."  
"Thanks for sharing the tea, and opening up like that."  
"It has been a long time. Thank you for being patient enough. If you ever want more tea or advice, let me know. Or if you care to share any of your stories." Loki looked up, his eyes still a little glossy, but shining none the less.  
Bruce smiled, patting his arm again. "It's no problem. I don't know if a whole lot of my stories are interesting without being downers."  
Loki huffed. "Sometimes it is just good to tell them. If you get too depressed, I can always tell you the story about Thor in a dress." He grinned.  
"I think I might need you to tell me that one anyway."  
Loki laughed. "How many of the Norse myths have you read? Besides the one with me and the horse, of course."  
"Not a whole lot. Only knew about the horse one because Tony made a crack about it and I didn't believe him."  
"Ah. I will have to sort that out with him later. Don't worry, no harm shall come to him." Loki vanished the tea set. "Thor had only recently gotten Mjolnir but he was already leaving it around everywhere. This was before the enchantment, you see, some the hammer didn't have any 'worthiness' requirement. Mother and Father were tired of picking up after him, as were the servants. One day, a noble boy Thyrm and his friends snuck off with it and buried it. The next day, when it was time for practice, Thor couldn't find Mjolnir and panicked. He came crying to me and asking if I had stolen it, and if not, could I help him find it. We tried to keep it from Father, but I think he knew about it anyway. I was still an amateur at tracking spells, so I wasn't able to locate it at first. However, I was good at listening and I heard Thyrm bragging about how he crafted 'the greatest heist in all of Asgard'. I rightly assumed it was Mjolnir and confronted him. He was bigger and older, so I wasn't much of a threat. I asked what Thor could do to get it back. His friends started throwing out ridiculous and embarrassing ideas, until they decided on having him dress like a girl and pretend to marry Thrym, and then they'd give it back. I went back to Thor and told him about it. He was angry, but he knew Father would be pissed about him losing one of Asgard's greatest weapons. He agreed and let me dress him up. I had quite the time finding all kinds of fabric and jewels and crafting it to perfection with the help of my magic. Thor went to the 'wedding feast' they had set up, really just some snacks pilfered from the royal kitchens, and sat down next to Thyrm. I sat next to him, whispering clever things to say. They set up an altar and said their 'vows', meaning that Thyrm demanded that Thor do all kinds of chores for him. After the 'I do's Thyrm gave Mjolnir back and ordered Thor to wash the dishes. Before Thor could start, I interjected. Technically, Thor didn't have to listen, because the vows were never sealed with a kiss. Thor beamed at me. We ran off to training, after changing Thor's clothes of course. Story eventually got to Father and Mother. Father was glad Thor had it back and taught him how to make Mjolnir return to him. Mother congratulated me on quick thinking and helped me work on locator spells. The end." Loki bowed with a flourish and sat back down.  
Bruce grinned, setting his elbow on the table and resting his head on his hand. "Think he'd be mad if I brought that up to him?"  
"Probably. I'd love to see the look on his face, though."  
Bruce chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck again. "He's so big and handsome and self-affirmed, it's almost a little nice to see him kinda off his game every once in a while."  
"Heh. He's learned a lot after putting up with the God of Mischief as a brother."  
"Think he ever holds grudges? Though I guess, forgiving and forgetting stuff would probably be completely different for people who've known each other for so long."  
"He used to hold grudges for a little while, but not much anymore. He also seems to forgive everything I do, no matter what it is. He just wants to know why."


End file.
